Last Updated on May 19, 2020 by PowersToTravel
Peles Castle is located about two hours north of Bucharest and is a popular day-tripper tour destination. Peles Castle is a Neo-Renaissance style former royal “summer-home” castle set in dramatic mountain scenery.
Only 30 minutes from Brasov, we arrived early to the castle, hoping for fewer crowds than the previous day. Oh, not to be so:
We waited in the courtyard for quite a while. Iulian explained to us that we had two options: the first option would be to join a guided tour, in which he would not be the guide. We would have to wait for an English tour to begin.
Our second option would be to enter directly, foregoing the official tour, and have Iulian surreptitiously explain things to us. Only official guides could guide tourists, so he would have to pretend to be a tourist, and quietly explain what he could to us.
We chose the sneaky approach not wanting to wait any longer than necessary in the crush of people.
The interior was eye-popping. Even the exterior mural above gives you a taste of what’s inside. Photographs were not allowed, and Greg took none. We did later buy a CD from a sidewalk vendor that perports to include interior pictures, but sadly, we haven’t yet popped it into our PC to verify them and gawk at them.
When we finished the interior, the skies had partly cleared, however clouds obscured the sun, so my pictures did not come out as beautiful as the castle deserves:
We wandered the gardens – actually more statuary than living plants – and then headed back to the car. On the way we passed another historical building which now hosts the cafe.
Iulian explained that Peles Cake comes from Peles Castle and is quite famous as a treat. (Perhaps he was feeling a little peaked and needed some energy himself?)
I needed no second prompting, and we popped into the cafe to try out the regional specialty:
I hate to report that the cake was somewhat dry and did not live up to its billing, nor its good looks. As a diabetic, when I do indulge I expect the experience to be worthwhile, and sadly it did not merit the 3 units of 3 hours timed-release bolus that it required!
I would give you a link to the next step in our Romanian Itinerary, however, sadly this is the end of our trip. We drove south towards Bucharest, and around the ring road so as to avoid city traffic, and out the south towards the border with Bulgaria. The drive was long, and we were on a timed schedule to meet the Bulgarian guide on the border, so we just hustled along.
What’s next? Bulgaria of course. Click here to continue on with our Bulgaria adventure.
